17 Is it not yet just a little while
[w]Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field,
And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?
18 On that day the deaf will hear words of a book,
And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the Lord,
And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished,
Indeed all who [x]are intent on doing evil will be cut off;
21 Who [y]cause a person to be indicted by a word,
And ensnare him who adjudicates at the gate,
And [z]defraud the one in the right with [aa]meaningless arguments.22 Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now turn pale;
23 But when [ab]he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My name;
Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 “Those who err in [ac]mind will know [ad]the truth,
And those who [ae]criticize will [af]accept instruction.
Once again, the perspective changes, as we go from punishment and sorrow to blessing and healing. Rarely does God pronounce His judgment without reminding His people Israel of the hope to come. We see this pattern long before when Solomon was dedicating the temple in 2 Chronicles 6-7. Solomon’s prayer is in chapter 6, but God’s response starts in 7:12.
If the people turn from God, they will be uprooted (7:20), and people will be astonished and ask why God has done such a thing–it is “because they forsook the Lord…” Yet if they turned from their wicked ways, God promised to hear them. This isn’t, “If you promise to do good, and follow through, I’ll give you all these blessings…” Rather, it was after they had already messed up, promising hope and healing.
So it is in this passage, that the afflicted and needy will be glad and rejoice (v. 19). Those who were blind will see the truth (vv. 18 & 24), and they will stand in awe of the God of Israel. We may today find ourselves feeling a bit hopeless. Whether it is disease, or death, persecution, hunger, or any number of hardships–that Jesus promised us (joy, joy…).
We often forget where our hope comes from, or at least where it should come from. For one, there is a future that God has promised us, in this passage and elsewhere. This life, no matter the happiness or sorrow we experience, is not it. Death is not the end, but only the beginning of something bigger. That’s difficult to remember when we are down in the weeds, trying to find a way through.
Yet we need to remember not just the promise of a brighter future, but the presence of a mighty God who is with us every moment of every day. He is no mere mortal, here today, and gone tomorrow, making promises, but rarely fulfilling. As I was thinking about this passage, a song by Crowder came up in on autoplay (God can use anything), which says:
“Do you see Him?
King of Heaven
Champion of all creation
Eyes of fire
Voice of thunder
Tearing through the sky in wonder
Dressed in light we
See Him coming
On a horse that’s white like lightning…”
God is strong, and awesome, and able to do “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think…” (Eph. 3:20). So remember what is coming, and remember in Whom we put our hope. Don’t lose faith, for it “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1)
The future is also “more than we could ask or think” or even imagine, and we have an amazing God to thank and to share it with. It’s not just hope, but assurance in the middle of our storms. He can calm the wind and waves, but even if He doesn’t (Dan. 3:18), He will never let us go. He is faithful, today, tomorrow, and forever.